Jan. 17—Police have linked the suspect dubbed the “Wobbly Tire Bandit” to 34 burglary cases dating back to the fall.

Abie Chavez, 38, was arrested in October and has been charged with 122 felonies, including dozens of counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, burglary of a vehicle and theft of a credit card.

He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Chavez pleaded not guilty in November, according to court documents. He is being represented by a public defender, who did not return a call for comment.

On Oct. 16, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, a woman told the Albuquerque Police Department she was the victim of a burglary. She told police she was flagged down by a man — later identified by police as Chavez — and two girls on Indian School and Uptown Loop NE three days earlier.

According to the complaint, she told police he “pointed at the right front tire on my car and said it was wobbly and dangerous and I needed to pull over immediately.”

She drove into the Target store parking garage and stopped, when another car drove up. Chavez told her to move to an open space so they could help her with the tire. He distracted her by talking with her, when one of the girls got out of his vehicle and stole her purse. The woman later reported fraudulent charges being made to her bank cards, the complaint states.

She told police, according to the complaint, that he told her he was going to get his jack and he would be “right back” but instead he left.

There were later reports of Chavez using his 8- and 12-year-old daughters, either through coercion or force, to assist Chavez in his alleged crime spree. After leaving, Chavez would use the victims’ credit cards to make fraudulent purchases, APD spokeswoman Franchesca Perdue said.

According to the complaint, police were able to identify the suspect using police databases and through video surveillance showing him using stolen bank cards.

While the investigation was ongoing, Perdue said, Chavez was arrested on unrelated charges. He reportedly stole a vehicle in Las Vegas, Nevada, that he drove to Albuquerque. Detectives found the stolen vehicle outside his home and booked him on charges for the stolen vehicle and a probation violation.